Saw IV.

"Over the course of two sequels, the Saw franchise took a novel, if distasteful, idea and basically tortured it to death," begins Jeannette Catsoulis in the New York Times.

"[S]ince the sole justification for Saw IV's existence is potential box-office riches, it's hardly surprising that the story is merely an excessively convoluted rehash of its predecessors, and that its signature set pieces both lack ingenuity and posit only facile, exploitative photocopies of actual ethical quandaries," writes Nick Schager at Slant.

Updated through 10/30.

"If the original Saw was the kernel of a potential terror universe, Saw IV is, by this time, a series of satellites and lesser celestial bodies bound together by some of the best bloodletting in modern macabre," writes Bill Gibron for PopMatters. "Call this the 'fill in the blank' film, a movie made to specifically address the minor issues still hanging from the previous three installments."

"If the terrible craft of [director Darren Lynn] Bousman's film doesn't turn your stomach, the borderline pornographic violence will," writes Scott Schueller for the Chicago Tribune. "It's disconcerting to imagine anyone enjoying the vile filth splashing the screen."

But of course, as Reuters reports, Saw IV will be the weekend box office champ.

Online grinning tip. Potentially, a fan's accessory.

Update, 10/30: "As with the Friday the 13th films, critics sit in front of the Saw movies but they don't see them," writes DK Holm for the Vancouver Voice. "They also tend to review the audience rather than the movie, fret over the demise of the culture, and attempt to figuratively cleanse themselves after the experience by making sure we know that they garnered no pleasure from watching people being tortured. But any film series this popular demands more serious consideration. Sadly, the sobriquet 'torture porn' doesn't accurately reflect what happens in these films, as the characters are tortured per se but put in excruciating situations and asked to make a choice. Be it Hobson's or not, it is a choice. And it must reflect something of the weird culture we find ourselves living in."

Posted by dwhudson at October 27, 2007 1:55 PM